Gold and silver were moving up following the results of Sunday’s national elections in Greece and France and signs of an improving U.S. housing market.
Market’s are also closely following news from a G-20 summit and Mexico, as well as news from the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee (FOMC), which meets Tuesday and Wednesday.
Spot gold was 0.07% higher as of 11:38 a.m., bid at $1,627.80 an ounce. The morning high reached $1,630.50, and the low $1,612.90, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was fixed at $1,615.50, $11.75 an ounce lower than Friday’s price fixing.
Spot silver was moving higher, up 0.28% and bid at $28.82. The day’s high thus far was $28.94 and the low $28.21. The London a.m. reference price was fixed at $28.43, 23 cents lower than Friday’s reference price.
Greece’s pro-bailout, center-right New Democracy party won Sunday’s national elections with 29.5% of the vote, raising hopes that the party will be able to form a government by forging a coalition with the third-place Pasok socialists, which garnered 12.3%. The radical-left-leaning Syriza party ran a very close second, capturing 27.1% of the vote.
G-20 leaders are meeting for a two-day summit in Mexico, where there’s been criticism of the EU, and Germany in particular, with regard to emergency measures taken to date to deal with the debt and credit crisis. Critics decry the focus on austerity and emergency bank bailouts as opposed to enacting pro-growth programs.
In the U.S., the National Association of Home Builders’ 29 June monthly index reading was the highest since May, 2007, gaining one point month-to-month. June’s rise follows a four-point May increase.
Gold bullion hovered around the $1,620-an-ounce level for most of Monday morning’s trading session in London, BullionVault reported. “There’s a downward bias [in gold and silver],” BullionVault quoted Standard Bank commodities strategist Marc Ground.
“Euro weakness weighs on precious metals as markets come to the realization that despite the Greek election resulting in a ‘positive’ outcome…the underlying problems facing the eurozone are still very much present.”
Gold trusts were flat to slightly lower, while the iShares Silver Trust was showing gains.
The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was showing losses of around 0.05%.
The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was trading around the unchanged level.
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was up around 0.3%.
Gold and silver mining ETFs were in positive territory in Monday morning trading.
The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was up around 0.2%.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was around 1.5% higher.
The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was up around 0.4%.
Gold mining shares were turning in a mixed performance, with Kinross Gold and NovaGold Resources showing very healthy morning gains.
Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was down some 0.3%.
Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was around 0.1% lower.
Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was up around 1%.
Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was around 1% lower.
Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC) was sharply higher, up around 2.8%.
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was showing losses of around 0.55%.
NovaGold Resources (NYSEAMEX:NG) was up a sharp 2%.
Yamana Gold (USA) (NYSE:AUY) was around 0.1% lower.
Silver mining shares were mixed as well, though gainers were in the majority.
Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was down around 1.1%.
Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was up around 1%.
Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was down more than 0.5%.
Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was around 1.2% higher.
Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was up around 1.2%.
As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.
